Our Schedule Is So Hectic

Monday 26 March

The ship rocked soothingly throughout the night – something I hadn’t expected. The waves seem small – although if you were in a rowing boat, I expect it would seem quite choppy – and I had expected the passage to be smooth – not the repeatedly gentle shuddering movements which were almost like the small earth tremors we felt at the Hacienda. But nothing had stopped us sleeping. It was strange to wake to see the sapphire coloured ocean slipping slowly by. A couple of other container ships were on the horizon as well as two oil rigs. Otherwise it was just us and the birds – gannets I think – diving deep into the ocean with a slight splash, returning to the surface seconds later with fish in their mouths. Colin thought he spied a small bird out on the waves, but despite concentrating for some time, it didn’t reappear.

We decided to eat breakfast in the Terrace Café – offering buffet style food, instead of the formal meal served in the Grand Dining Room. One look at the selection and Colin decided we would be here some time. There was a multitude of cereals to choose from, every sort of egg imaginable, smoked salmon, rollmops , meats and hams, all the cooked breakfast ingredients and breads in all shapes and sizes, from dark rye to pale sweet slices as well as a huge range of cakes, pastries and fruit. One visit to the buffet was quite sufficient for me, but Colin enjoyed his many sojourns to find more and more tempting morsels.

We adjourned to the Insignia Lounge almost as soon as we had finished eating, to listen to the Destinations Manager provide details of tours for the only two stops the ship would make on its way to Barcelona – Cape Verde Islands and Tenerife. We had been quite interested in hearing about Cape Verde, but the presentation was poor – the lady read from a script in accented English, but failed to make sense of the words on many occasions. The photographs of the scenery, people, wildlife and architecture to be found were not synchronized with the words, and she made Cape Verde Islands sound completely unappealing and Tenerife not much better. I don’t think anyone in the audience was impressed and there definitely didn’t seem to be many people making any bookings.

Colin remained in this Lounge at the end of the presentation as he was going to listen to a lecture about digital photography. I meanwhile adjourned to the Martini Bar – shame it wasn’t open yet – to hear all about detoxing and losing weight – a very necessary activity for the forthcoming months. Robert (Bobby), a young Glaswegian lad gave the talk, with flip charts and diagrams to show how our bodies worked and how we abuse them. He offered body check sessions to find out about exactly how each individual body was made up, and what was needed to improve our health. I made my appointment for this afternoon at 16.00. Colin was waiting for me when the lecture had finished and we adjourned to the library to blog and read, for the short while before lunch – eating again! We returned to the Terrace Café where a Mexican buffet was on offer – lots of chicken fajitas, empanadas, chilli con carne with salads and vegetables from that country and of course, rice. There was a huge leg of roast pork for those not into Mexican food. It all looked very tasty and making a decision was hard – I ended up with pork (my favourite) and salads, while Colin selected the chilli con carne and rice, before falling victim to several small portions of crème caramel.

It was already 13.55 by the time we had finished eating, and we had an appointment in the Toscana restaurant, to learn to play bridge in five minutes – something I have thought about for a long time – we like playing cards and this game has always appealed. But you must have a partner – who you don’t lie to!!! So said Steve, our instructor, an older man in his 70’s, whose wife is apparently a bridge fanatic – teaching and running clubs in lots of Californian old people’s condominiums. He went through the basics of the game – the set up, dealing, bidding, taking tricks and scoring – before we had a short while to play a few hands. Marilyn was also at our table and Steve came over and made our fourth. The course was obviously quite popular as there were two other tables of four learning with us.

At 16.00 Marilyn was due to go to Tango lessons, I was going for my body readout and detox programme, and Colin was going for afternoon tea. He was served small hors d’ouvres of salmon, beef and egg, with caviar, capers and other garnishes, before small cakes and larger gateaux and cheese cakes arrived. There was a huge range of teas – in bags of course - to select – but I think he stuck to green tea. He said the food trail was endless, and he had to leave before he exploded. I, on the other hand, had my body reading and a detox programme explained. Basically I have to bath in some algae – supplied in the form of bath salts – a couple of times a week – for ages – but to lose weight I have to keep it up, with exercise and nutrition – according to Guru Bobby. Tomorrow I find out about the exercise regime which should be helpful, and then, later in the week, the nutritional elements and diet to support the other two programmes.

Back in the room, I finished blogging for a while before changing and setting out to find the Martini bar for a drink. On offer was about thirty different martinis using based around either gin or vodka, but all served in glasses with a wiggly coloured glass stem, which seem very unstable when picked up to sip. Colin chose a melon martini – made with midori and blue sapphire gin, while I chose a “Gibson” made with grey goose vodka, triple sec, martini bianco and two cocktail onions. Colin’s was quite sweet, while mine was just the opposite. Nibbles were provided to soak up the alcohol, and we spent a pleasant hour chatting to an American couple from Houston, Texas, who were experienced cruisers. It was good to hear that they thought well of Oceania cruises, although probably preferred the smaller Seabourne cruises that were all-inclusive.

We decided to go to the Grand Dining Room again for dinner and managed to get a table for two. Despite his reservations about its production, Colin chose chicken breast stuffed with foie gras, and I chose twice baked cheese soufflé with leek jus for starters, followed by tiny portions of grapefruit sorbet served in what appeared to be a silver candlestick holder, only slightly larger than the usual table decoration! We both decided to have the duck with red cabbage (that’s what swung it for me, as we haven’t had any red cabbage since Russia) for main courses. Whole lobster was on the menu, and Colin was surprised I didn’t choose this, but I would save that for another night. Colin finished with a chocolate cup of cappuccino, as well as a real cappuccino, while I just had green tea. No wine tonight – after the martinis, which tasted very alcoholic, we felt we had imbibed sufficiently for the day.

After the meal we returned to the Insignia Lounge to watch one of the evening activities in the form of “Bookmark – a rock and roll show” This involved four of the entertainment staff and the orchestra, performing well known melodies from the 1940’s through to the 1970’s with some slick dance routines. It was a pleasant way to relax after dinner. Returning to the room about 23.00, we were just in time to watch a Russell Crowe film, so it was well after 01.00 when we settled down for the night.

We are really enjoying this cruising experience – and can’t believe how busy we have been all day. We already have activities booked for the next few days, and it really is hard to fit everything in – in fact, tomorrow there is “understanding martinis”, “the Queen” film, and bridge lessons all on at the same time – just making all these decisions is quite exhausting.